![](https://i.imgur.com/CLvY2jA.png")
15-10-2023, 02:29 PM
Martha Gill
Sun, 15 October 2023 at 1:32 pm SGT
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Prison rape, for example, is rife and rising. An Observer investigation this year found that about 1,000 rapes have taken place in prisons since 2010 – rates have shot up since 2016. And that’s just the reported incidents.
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The studies that exist have uncovered “pervasive routine physical victimisation” of prisoners – by fellow inmates and sometimes by staff.
Self-harm is also shockingly common – 16,543 incidents were recorded in men’s prisons in the first quarter of this year, a rate that is 11 times higher in women’s prisons and which has doubled in the past 10 years. A recent inquest into the death of a newborn baby in Bronzefield jail in Surrey found that her mother – on remand after pleading guilty to robbery – had repeatedly called for help as she was giving birth, but had been ignored. Blood spattered the cell and the child could not be revived.
In Wandsworth, where a terror suspect recently reportedly escaped, inmates were found to be held in squalid conditions, sharing cells built for one and denied showers for days at a time – a result of too few officers and too little space. A court in Germany decided not to extradite a criminal to the UK recently because of the conditions he would face.
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overcrowding becomes an urgent problem only when it threatens the safety of the public – not the safety of inmates. Both main parties fear being seen as “too soft” on prisoners, and this concern may well be justified. YouGov surveys find a roughly consistent 50% of respondents think living conditions in jail are too easy – only 7% believe they are too harsh.
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prison rape has been a punchline in movies and TV shows – particularly in American culture, which spills into ours. So prevalent and accepted are these jokes in Hollywood that they appear even in films aimed at children.
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Do we on some level believe this kind of violence is an acceptable punishment for anyone sent to prison? Perhaps we feel that when it comes to breaking the law, no deterrent is too steep. Or perhaps we think that if rape and assault have to happen somewhere, better that they happen in prison, against a more deserving population. In the hierarchy of social problems, the experiences of wrongdoers may come fairly low on the list.
But even if this is your belief, there is a practical reason to care about the treatment of prisoners: it is tied closely to public safety. Brutalised prisoners kept in their cells for most of the day are much harder to rehabilitate. There is wide international consensus that punitive approaches have worse outcomes – criminals reoffend and end up back in the justice system, at the taxpayer’s expense. When you send someone to a dystopian horror house, you don’t expect an upstanding citizen to come out the other side.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/britain-filthy...03373.html
Sun, 15 October 2023 at 1:32 pm SGT
......
Prison rape, for example, is rife and rising. An Observer investigation this year found that about 1,000 rapes have taken place in prisons since 2010 – rates have shot up since 2016. And that’s just the reported incidents.
......
The studies that exist have uncovered “pervasive routine physical victimisation” of prisoners – by fellow inmates and sometimes by staff.
Self-harm is also shockingly common – 16,543 incidents were recorded in men’s prisons in the first quarter of this year, a rate that is 11 times higher in women’s prisons and which has doubled in the past 10 years. A recent inquest into the death of a newborn baby in Bronzefield jail in Surrey found that her mother – on remand after pleading guilty to robbery – had repeatedly called for help as she was giving birth, but had been ignored. Blood spattered the cell and the child could not be revived.
In Wandsworth, where a terror suspect recently reportedly escaped, inmates were found to be held in squalid conditions, sharing cells built for one and denied showers for days at a time – a result of too few officers and too little space. A court in Germany decided not to extradite a criminal to the UK recently because of the conditions he would face.
......
overcrowding becomes an urgent problem only when it threatens the safety of the public – not the safety of inmates. Both main parties fear being seen as “too soft” on prisoners, and this concern may well be justified. YouGov surveys find a roughly consistent 50% of respondents think living conditions in jail are too easy – only 7% believe they are too harsh.
......
prison rape has been a punchline in movies and TV shows – particularly in American culture, which spills into ours. So prevalent and accepted are these jokes in Hollywood that they appear even in films aimed at children.
......
Do we on some level believe this kind of violence is an acceptable punishment for anyone sent to prison? Perhaps we feel that when it comes to breaking the law, no deterrent is too steep. Or perhaps we think that if rape and assault have to happen somewhere, better that they happen in prison, against a more deserving population. In the hierarchy of social problems, the experiences of wrongdoers may come fairly low on the list.
But even if this is your belief, there is a practical reason to care about the treatment of prisoners: it is tied closely to public safety. Brutalised prisoners kept in their cells for most of the day are much harder to rehabilitate. There is wide international consensus that punitive approaches have worse outcomes – criminals reoffend and end up back in the justice system, at the taxpayer’s expense. When you send someone to a dystopian horror house, you don’t expect an upstanding citizen to come out the other side.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/britain-filthy...03373.html
